


Luffy's Sake

by tgnt19



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loyalty, More Hurt Than Comfort, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates As Family, My First One Piece Fic, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, Post-Marineford, vague descriptions of laugh tale and one piece (treasure)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tgnt19/pseuds/tgnt19
Summary: Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the nightWaving our goodbyes, we'll never meet againBut don't look so down,For tomorrow night the moon will also riseTheir captain had fulfilled his dream of becoming Pirate King. Now it was their turn to do good on the dreams they held dear and the promises they yet to keep. And they would have done so together because they were his and he was their's. Because they promised and they'd do good to keep it.But Luffy had other plans.
Relationships: Brook & Monkey D. Luffy, Franky & Monkey D. Luffy, Jinbei & Monkey D. Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy & Everyone, Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Nami, Monkey D. Luffy & Nico Robin, Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy & Tony Tony Chopper, Monkey D. Luffy & Usopp, Monkey D. Luffy & Vinsmoke Sanji, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	1. in which They follow Him — Him, the future Pirate King

**Author's Note:**

> After a night full of musings, theorizing the impending end of One Piece, and listening to different renditions of Bink's sake, this fic came into fruition. The former part of the summary comes from the literal translation of Bink's sake, found in the One Piece Fandom Wiki.
> 
> The writing of this fic is quite passive and more of a narrative than a set story; events described may be written in a non-linear fashion, vaguely, or in fragments but I'd like to think that it underscores the feeling of somberness/mystery that I was trying to go for HAHAHA.
> 
> With that said, happy reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may have been stupid to follow Luffy but to them they just knew that they should. That they would. And they knew from the moment they've called him captain, the rubber boy would become Pirate King.

In hindsight, making Monkey D. Luffy captain was not the best decision. A seventeen-year-old boy, fresh out of the ever-peaceful East Blue, without any knack in navigating, and had only gone by through floating aimlessly in barrels and dinghies. Pulled by various ocean currents, directions dictated by luck or god-forbid, fate, he was a boy that lacked the skill set to cross the vast blue of the seas and yet he found himself a good crew, with a strong ship, and a legacy.

_(To have come across a strung-up bounty hunter all too exasperated and starved to continue denying the rubber-man’s insistence of joining his pirate crew. A cat-burglar that seemed to have played them only to get emotionally invested and asked them to help her. A village liar that sought to find courage in sailing the vast blues. A sous chef too chivalrous but principally consistent. A proud reindeer of a doctor, that meant and gave nothing but well wishes and good health. A double agent all too knowing but pained by her past. An eccentric cyborg that cared for his family and inventions. A skeleton that was all too lonely to make good on his promise and afraid to step into the light. And a Fishman, dedicated to actualizing the wishes of his friends and former captain, that of which was peace. Nine individuals with vastly different backgrounds, personalities, and dreams – all brought together by a human elastic band.)_

He was too stubborn – too charged to listen to sound logic and reasoning and operated mostly by his whims and musings. He thought not with his head but with his heart, worn upon his sleeve for anyone to take and yet no one really did; more often than not, the hearts of others were swayed by his own, for the sheer raw sincerity and honesty melted even the cold and wry, and lit flames upon the weary and forlorn. He was too genuine and expressive to be called a liar and far too gullible to know deceit and manipulation. He held no particular talents outside the realm of violence, a fighting genius he may be, but he was far beyond to be called a scholarly intellectual. He barely read, too self-absorbed with his own objectives to care about the happenings beyond his ship’s four walls. He knew none about self-preservation and rather focused on the safety of his crew despite the imminent peril he constantly seemed to attract.

And yet.

But _yet_.

They called him captain.

Monkey D. Luffy was their captain and they believed in every fiber of his being despite the world’s logic screaming that it was unwise. That it was not worth their time or effort to be strung along with this boy that hailed from East Blue, who acted upon his gut instincts more than anything, and who had the self-preservation skills of a fish. Their minds supplied that the man, though hilarious and easy-going, was someone dangerous to be associated with, not because of his flaws but in spite of it; the way the world screamed to them that following him was betraying common sense, a betrayal to the life they owned, and a risk too great to make.

And yet their hearts sang, bleeding through the world’s screams and growing fond of the enigma in which they called captain. Far too gone to appease their fears and doubts, and all too willing to be caught in the man’s pace to give a damn. Together, they had continued to defy logic, having left miracles left and right, before and after they came and left as a crew. Their captain had brought heaven and hell with him in every wake and step, and for each taken, they followed.

~~Because he is captain and they are his crew.~~

Because he _was_ captain and they _were_ his crew.

His family.

His _nakama_. 

* * *

When the Straw-Hats landed in Laugh Tale, they hadn’t known what to expect. A deserted island that was full of traps and treasures, a village with ancient histories and far too familiar to the horrors of the new world, or maybe something that would enunciate their victory and voyage to the island that was shrouded in legend and mystery.

But yet they had found something else entirely and couldn’t help but laugh. The elusive island, true to its name, surely held nothing back for the crew. Be it treasure troves, fights, merry, or drama, all of which happened on Laugh Tale was a hilarity to be spoken of in fond vagueness rather than specifics. For the island’s wonder had been dependent on all those that landed on it.

Their captain was far too ensnared by all which the island had offered and stayed true to the land’s interpretive and subjective nature. Maybe it was because he enjoyed the time he had spent with his crew, the merry-making feasts they’ve conducted on the Thousand Sunny’s deck for days to come or the small treasure he had stumbled upon that ended up being One Piece.

*******

Luffy does not speak of what One Piece was and he had told his crew about his finding only days after they departed from Laugh Tale. He keeps his lips sealed as to what the treasure is and answers his crew’s questions with a _shi shi shi shi,_ and a bright sunny smile that beamed happiness and contentment. He does, however, appease his furious navigator by telling her that the particular treasure he found was neither gold, berry, or jewels, and only then was his collar let go by the redhead.

(Despite the mountain of treasure, they had coveted from Laugh Tale, Nami was still very much hell-bent on scrapping every piece of gold; to find out that One Piece was not something she could covet as riches, was something that she may or may not have been disappointed about.)

Robin tries to pry the information off him later in the night when the crew had settled with the feasts and opted back into their normal routines. Despite her prodding, Luffy does not slip but he comforts her that it does not concern the lost history she tries to uncover. She argues saying that there is evidence that One Piece had contained a portion of Joy Boy’s treasure, but the rubber man insists that the treasure was not something of a concern, and its identity is to be left unknown to those that did not see it firsthand.

Robin may have thought that Luffy was being unfair, considering that he told no one about his finding the moment he had stumbled upon the world-renowned sought-out treasure. She does not huff in frustration but sighs in defeat, rationalizing her captain’s actions with reasons that are unlikely but comforting to her at least. She does note, however, that Luffy’s insistence of secrecy was something bold and _deliberate_ as if there was a grander reason that she had yet to grasp and cannot see. A reason where context and circumstance did not matter but something rather personal to her captain.

In her last attempt at questioning the rubber man, she foregoes all pretenses and bluntly asks if he had a personal stake in preserving the One Piece’s identity; at that moment she had seen the fastidious change of facial expression, from cheery to somber. Luffy does not answer her immediately and brings his straw-hat down instead, casting a shadow on his eyes, depleting their visibility.

“Maybe.” The captain muses with a quiet voice but loud enough for Robin to hear. A beat passes and the pensive air dispels as soon as Luffy chuckles and stares up to the night sky. Robin follows his line of sight and though mostly bare, she, along with her captain, admires the lone star in the sky that seemed to be smiling on them by the deck.

Alone it might have been, the small bright star had seemed to overwhelm even the darkest clouds of the night, its light outshining all which had hindered it.

(And somehow, in that moment, she knew; whatever One Piece was, it didn’t matter.

_Not until it hadn’t._

_~~Not until they lost him.)~~ _

* * *

Unlike the rest of the world, the Straw-Hat Crew had the foresight in following their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, for he was officially crowned and recognized as the second-generation Pirate King the moment he had left Laugh Tale and circled back to re-enter Paradise.

_(This was not the end of their voyage for the crew still had to look for the true final island that they had found out was beyond Laugh Tale. The other members still had their dreams to hold on to and fulfill, and though their captain had fulfilled his personal dream, he made no announcements for the end of their adventure and had no qualms about his crewmates’ dreams._

_He never will and he never would. For without them he knew that he couldn’t have fulfilled his dream of being the Pirate King.)_

They stopped by Dawn Island, under the pretense of a supply run but of course, the crew knew better. For everything their captain was, Monkey D. Luffy was still a nineteen-year-old boy that hailed from Foosha Village, which was not so coincidentally before Paradise, in East Blue, and specifically on Dawn Island. To the crew’s surprise, however, they had garnered a warm welcome from the coastal village inhabitants. It was as if they weren’t notorious pirates that had just conquered the Grand Line or that the captain of their ship was officially hailed as the new Pirate King. They held nothing back though and basked under the hospitality shown and attention that had been given to them by the villagers. They got along well with the locals, Luffy practically introducing the crew to anyone and everyone he had grew up with and known. Be it the unassuming villagers, the mountain bandits that had come down from their hideout bawling their eyes out at the sight of Luffy, the pretty barmaid who was all too kind and just as sincere as their captain, or the greying mayor who seemed all too eager to nag and scold the Pirate King.

To say that the crowd that Luffy had introduced them to was diverse and all but conventional was an understatement. But then again, this was their captain.

When had anything been conventional with him?

(Even his bloodline was special, not that Luffy himself particularly minded. The crew however still took it in account as they familiarize themselves in Luffy’s hometown, noting the various nooks and spots villagers had pointed to and reminisced fondly about their captain. They gave accounts of the numerous antics the rubber-man had committed during his life here in Foosha and many had given thanks to them for taking care of the foolish boy that they had remembered to be a big dreamer; they had appreciated the fact that Luffy had done good with his dream and expressed their initial doubts and are ultimately glad for their homeboy to have found such an amazing crew as themselves.)

By twilight, they began to feast and merry in Partys bar; cooking had been a typical affair, Makino originally wanting to make it herself but Sanji and his ever-present chivalry, offered to help, unable to take no for an answer. Zoro had drowned himself in all the alcohol he could, along with some of the few willing villagers that had opted to try and drink him under the table, Nami joining in and calling bets to see who’d be the last (wo)man standing. Usopp had been telling tales of their adventures to the village children who had been permitted to stop by the establishment, Franky and Jimbei conversed with village elders and the fishermen, Brook had been playing music, pausing every now and then to drink the small carton of milk that Makino had served him; Robin was enjoying Brook’s performance and listened to stories about the village and their captain from the locals, while Chopper and Luffy had busied themselves entertaining a dark-green haired baby they found to be Makino’s son. The latter two had cooed and played with the baby, laughing and surging with pride and amusement every time the child had gestured, babbled, or giggled.

Despite the small space of Partys Bar, they had managed to fit anyone and everyone that had wanted to welcome the Straw-Hat pirates. Even when the doors had burst opened in the middle of festivities, an ex-marine, too old to be an operative, interrupting the crew’s merry, did not stop them. Albeit, the old dog had pulled the attention of their captain and gave him a bear hug so tight it was unbelievable. Touching as it was, the moment was brief for the older man had ended up smacking their captain with a ‘fist of love’.

If Luffy’s commanders noticed the man’s fist to be infused with haki, they don’t speak of it. Despite their captain’s whines and protests they see the clear happiness in his eyes, all too loving and all too forgiving towards the man he called ‘grandpa’.

(No one mentions Marineford or the dearly missed freckled boy who went by the epithet ‘Fire-Fist’. If Garp had mentioned it when he dragged Luffy outside for some ‘training’, the crew didn’t know. But when Luffy and Garp came back, no one called them out on their red puffy eyes or their snot dripping noses.)

As the Pirate King, Luffy had free reign of the seas. But at this moment, along with his crew, he felt no power or control, but a certain type of happiness that can only be described as bright and content. 

*******

~~A loving memory between a captain and his crew.~~

In loving memory for a captain by _his_ crew.

~~A loving memory for their captain.~~

In loving memory of _their_ captain.

*******

They sing and sing in merry and relief. Their tired bones only seemed to amplify their willingness to go all out in partying, as if it were their last. Not that it was.

But it’d be the last few before they sober. Before they’ve set out to finalize the rest of their dreams and make good on their promises. But they didn’t know that just yet.

They didn’t know and that was fine.

_It was the captain’s burden after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will probably post the next chapter next week but in the meantime, I would love to know what you guys think!


	2. Marineford & the Time spent in-between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy's not really okay but he will be. He's with his crew after all.
> 
> But the same could not be said for men whose hair have grayed and whitened. Not when loss and death still haunts them.

Something rips him out of his dream, something of cold terror and sweat. The hands that seemed to claw their way up his throat held back the scream he had dreamt himself voicing, and to some extent, he was grateful for that constrictive feeling in his throat. His heart pounded in his chest, the crossed scar throbbing, a gentle reminder of a memory too fresh to forget. He felt his insides churn as if they were conducting a protest, and bullets of sweat covered his entire body. He felt too hot, too shaken, but he grounds himself when he looks around, finding himself in the men’s quarters with his crewmates sleeping soundly.

They’re okay.

~~They’ll be okay.~~

He’s okay.

~~He’s not okay.~~

Luffy gets up from his bunk and makes his way outside the deck. He does so quietly, in fear of waking the rest of his crew up.

* * *

They don’t talk about their time apart.

They don’t talk about the two years they’ve spent away from one another, the two years where they trained and _trained_ just to get better. They don’t talk about it unless they want to, which is why they don’t ask either.

They don’t ask how they got their scars or bruises; the unwarranted but needed change of their physical, mental, or emotional states. They don’t ask how they fared or trained over the two years, how they’d been without each other.

_(It’d be a reminder of their past inadequacies, inabilities, and shortcomings.)_

They don’t ask Luffy about the war.

_(They’re sorry for not being with him.)_

They don’t ask him about Ace.

_(If he blamed himself and if there was anything, they could do to make it better)_

Not because they didn’t want to but because they wouldn’t know _how_ to. For all their captain’s unpredictability and recklessness, he wasn’t one that dwelled kindly on the past, to reflect on things that happened (that shouldn’t have happened) especially as _something_ like this. He wasn’t the type to have let this drag him down – not that it seemed to do so, considering the warm, bright, and oh so happy grin he gave them when they finally reunited – but he also wasn’t the type to answer things so straightforwardly, an utter contrast to his usual being of simple outspokenness and drive. They were also afraid of touching a subject too close and too painful to their captain; afraid to remind him of the devastation and loss he might have felt.

They didn’t know but they could have only imagined. What their captain had gone through. What he had felt. Pondered over their years apart, their time together ever since they reunited on Sabaody.

But they believe in their captain.

He will come forward if he wishes to do so. He would answer their unvoiced questions should he feel like doing so. And they would listen to him if he did. Wait for him till he told them, allowing him to set the pace, the time, for when he thought it was right or when he’d feel okay to tell them.

They’d give him all the time in the world, and they’d still patiently wait for him.

Luckily, they didn’t need to wait long.

* * *

Zoro had sensed his captain the moment Luffy jolted awake. He does not seek him out when the door to their quarters open or when the rubber man speeded up towards the deck in lighter footfalls – which had been deliberate, the swordsman notes.

Zoro doesn’t seek out his captain because Luffy does so first.

He’d been on the crow’s nest, on shift for a watch that would end by first light. Which was near if the sky lighting up oh so slowly, indicated anything. He does not shift when he hears his captain get closer, stretching his arms and bolstering himself next to the swordsman, despite its abrupt and intrusive nature.

Zoro doesn’t say anything about Luffy’s appearance and his captain seems to not care for it either. _Then again, when did he ever?_

“Zoro,” Luffy says with a lack of breath, a confirmation and reassurance of some sort. ‘ _I am here. We’re okay. Nothing happened.’_ The swordsman grunts in reply, scooting up a bit to make space for the rubber man. Luffy plops down next to him and says nothing else.

They both gaze at the horizon, at the lightening sky that shifted from dark to light. They do not look or glance at one another, their line of sight facing head on to the distant line. Luffy begins to thrum with trepidation, lightly tapping his crossed legs and anxiously biting his lip. Zoro waits till he calms, still saying nothing, and then Luffy takes a deep breath.

_‘I’m going to tell them.’_ He doesn’t say.

He exhales. _‘I’m going to tell you.’_ Again, not said.

“Can’t wait for breakfast.” Luffy says instead, with much too sobriety than expected. It had lacked the explicit tone of excitement, the one that usually accompanied the rubber boy’s declaration for food. “Shitty cook’s still asleep so you’re gonna have to wait a bit longer.” Zoro replies. ‘ _Are you sure?’_ The swordsman doesn’t say.

Luffy laughs, the weighted air that came with him, immediately dispelled by its sound. ‘ _Yeah, I’m sure.’_ And that’s all the confirmation Zoro gets.

For all the bravado and uncaring attitude the swordsman wore, he, just like them, was worried about their captain. They may not speak as often or of things that needed to be voiced out, but like always, no words came out. Just an illicit, mutual understanding that worked all too similar to a telepathic ability. Not that either of them could read each other’s minds.

But they read each other. They understood. And that was enough.

The pair still sat by each other, not having moved an inch. Zoro had continued watching the horizon, keeping an eye out for any lick of the sun and any sign of danger; when there was movement, he does not fret. Instead, Zoro sits up straight and stills further — his shoulders upright making sure they do not sag the same way his captain does. He does not close his eye to doze off as Luffy does. He pays no heed to the way his captain had used his shoulder as a pillow and had begun to snore heavily against because Zoro knew that Luffy hadn’t been sleeping well. Hadn’t been the same since their reunion – not during the nights at least. It’s why the swordsman had decided to take the night shifts, be it the former or latter half of the night, sometimes both, because _he knows_.

Luffy was scared not of the night but the monsters that would appear in his dreams.

Luffy was scared not for himself but for his crew who’d be vulnerable once it was dark.

Luffy was scared of the memory burned so vividly in his mind, to have come for his crewmates.

Zoro may not have known what the memory had looked like or the details that Mihawk didn’t tell him about, but he didn’t need to. The fear and anxiousness that coiled around his captain during the night were enough to scream it. Luffy’s already got enough weighing on him being their captain, so this was the least that Zoro could do. Be it a guard dog that protected the ship, his friends, and his captain, or a makeshift pillow for the boy that had frequently awoken in terror ever since their reunion.

_(It was the least he could do, for not having been there when Luffy needed them the most.)_

* * *

Rayleigh does not dream most of the time, but when he does, they’re memories of a distant past; they’re scenes of joy and nostalgia, his captain, his life, all before the execution, and the legendary title bestowed upon the man he called _nakama_. He does not cry even if he wanted to, in fear that some after-life form of a man he once followed would manifest behind him and laugh at him. He’d rather rub his eyes or pour himself a drink, and toast to no one but himself. At times like these, he’d rather wander than let Shakky, his ever-loving and understanding wife, see him like this (but she’d know anyways, though that never stopped him). He’d walk and _walk_ , till his feet bled and his heart missed the bar, his home, and his love. And when the memories had piled up once more, he’d replay and do everything all over again.

But that was before he took Luffy in. Before he decided to mentor the boy who he’d been told had been so much like his captain. Who he’d seen to be just like Gold Roger, _Gol D. Roger_ , albeit younger and much more reckless.

That was the charm he supposed, to be so similar yet strikingly different from the memory he once lived with. Rayleigh may have been a bit too projecting onto his student but for an old man to find a boy who reminded him so much of his partner, his best friend, his _captain_ , he couldn’t really help it.

But he knows. Rayleigh knows. The difference between memory and reality, the old and the new. He knows so much it had hurt, so much that he feared to be forgotten, that he would forget the man that started it all. He knows the line because he’s rather afraid to blur reality and memory (and that’d be a testament to his aging self which he’d rather not prove to be true). And he _knows_ the difference.

He can feel the tides change, the currents sweeping him and the rest of the world in a new direction. He could feel the beginning, the dawn of a new era, and how it would be led by the young boy he had taken under his wing. The skies that had been clouded in the gloom were about to clear, and it would shine upon a new freedom, a new _king._ And for all the poetic justice Rayleigh had experienced, had _felt_ , and had been feeling, this was still an encroaching reality he could not seriously fathom. Not without fondness, joy, or expectation. Not without the fire within he thought had dimmed. Not without the bitter ire or moronic antics he had reminisced on.

The contrast between memory and his present reality had been clear.

But yet.

And _yet._

He continues to walk between the two, within the line he had observed to be drawn. He stays in-between, taking both the best and worst of both worlds like the stubborn man his captain had deluded himself Rayleigh had been (like it wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black). And he walks this line alone _just because._

(Should he share a drink in memory of his captain or the reality that showcased the newfound hope – one that came in the form of a rubber boy, he’d do so alone.

Just like how he grieved the death of his captain.

~~Just like how he grieved the death of his student.)~~

* * *

For all the crew’s crazy and rowdy nature, breakfast had been a quiet affair. At least to their standards. It wasn’t like that at first though since banter and conversation had echoed within the galley. What made breakfast a more, _quiet_ , affair, was when Luffy had pointed out something that Usopp did, reminding the rubber boy of Ace. At the mention of the dead pirate’s name, most of the crew had put a halt with their banter and stared at Luffy.

From their pointed looks and their captain’s casual mention of his brother, the atmosphere had become stiff – an uncertainty within the air that begged ‘where was this going?’ The sniper tries to laugh Luffy’s comment off, albeit awkward and lackluster of its usual humor and vigor. The conversation begins to pick up once more, bit by bit, but their captain does not relent; he continues to point out things in the middle of their talks that had reminded him of Ace. He does so again and again until one of them (besides Zoro) had picked up the hint and bit.

“Luffy-san,” Brook starts, his tone light but hesitant, shushing the rest of the crew’s noise. “Can you tell us more about Ace-san?” 

And so Luffy does. He speaks of the fond childhood memories he had with his brother; the way he’d been rejected and spat on at first, coddled and teased for his tendencies to cry and wail. Their promise to leave and seek out adventure, their dream of piracy. He speaks of Ace in the time they had been apart, his storming in Impel Down, who he had met on the way; he speaks of Bon Clay’s sacrifice and humbly proclaimed that he wouldn’t have been able to see his brother without the okama. He speaks of all these things, in-between bites of food, before and after the tangent comments and jokes made by his crew to lighten the mood. He speaks with such nonchalance like it was okay to talk and ask about what happened. Like it was fine. Like he wasn’t hurt.

(But they could hear it despite their captain’s audible munches. See it too, when his eyes avoided theirs every time he spoke.)

He doesn’t go into the gruesome details at least the ones he knew he could skip. He tells them of his scar and how Ace died to protect him and how in the end, his brother had been regretful for not seeing him fulfill his dream but immensely grateful for being loved – for feeling loved, even as he took his last breath. Luffy speaks briefly about his breakdown when they had escaped, and how he only got to pull through those two years because of them – his crew, his family, his _nakama._

And he grins widely at them like he had not just relived the tale he spoke of during breakfast. He laughs with his usual _shi shi shi_ and says thank you to them for being with him, for being the future Pirate King’s crewmates, and for being undeniably his.

Chopper, Usopp, Brook, and Franky, tackled him to the galley floor, in sobbing messes and tears. They’ve started a dogpile, one which had accidentally toppled Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Nami, in the process. Some of them complained and voiced out in protest but all of them knew that it wasn’t really meant and that there was no heat behind it.

Luffy doesn’t tell them about the nightmares but that’s okay, he doesn’t need to.

They were together, stronger, and much heftier than they had been before. They were changed but whole, usually in separate spaces (on deck, in-battle) but complete. Luffy could feel them just as they could feel him and that was that.

(Moments like these don’t usually happen but when it did, it was special. After the two years they’ve been apart, after their utter helplessness of being unable to do anything to save each other against Kuma, to get to Luffy at his moment of need, these rare moments were treasured. Kept in their hearts and burned into their minds as to not lose the memory.

Their time apart had been a severe reminder of the loneliness they had thought to have never face again when they joined Luffy. It had been a reminder that even the sun they called captain was not invincible or omnipresent. It reminded them of his mortality and their own, and how easily these things could have vanished should they be rendered weak and helpless once more.

But right now, they were basking in this small-lived intimacy, this moment of trust and readiness that had been given so easily by their captain. The crew wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was good.)

* * *

Sitting at a familiar cliffside, the old marine stares far off the blue horizon, no room for tears and no anger to burn. The sea was too peaceful, the sky too clear, and his head too blank to register the view in front of him.

He does not register the pain in his cheek, nor opt to nurse it once he realizes it throbs. He does not reminisce about the memory of a child he once raised but rather the man he had allowed to die. He does not fight the guilt that threatens to overflow his chest and rather accepts it, in all too open embrace. He does not regret what he has done, what he hadn’t done, at least not completely. He does not stand but he does not sit still either, thrumming his fingers along with a tune he ought to despise.

_The sea watches us quietly,_

_Guiding us through our death and our birth._

He does not sympathize with criminals, rebels, or extremists. He does not empathize with the pain they go through.

_From humble hometown waters,_

To the waves at the end of the earth.

But he understands should they place importance on freedom and family. Understands the significance of these values over justice.

_The sea carries us carefully,_

_Through the dark of night and light of day,_

_To the world that’s just and peaceful,_

_So that we never lose our way._

And yet.

But _yet._

It wasn’t enough.

_All our pain and suffering,_

~~(His grandson had still died.)~~

_It swallows up in its warm embrace,_

~~(His beloved grandson had died.)~~

He does not have sympathy for pirates but for family he does. Dead or alive, it didn’t matter – it was _family_ and yet somehow that still wasn’t enough. Enough for the duty he bounded himself to, enough for the world to stop damning him with rebels, criminals, and pirates, in his family. Enough for the people he asked to raise his grandchildren for him when he _couldn’t_.

_So knowingly and gently,_

_Washes them all away._

_It wasn’t **enough.**_

(And so the old marine grieves, albeit silently, guiltily, yet blankly. He does not register the vast blue and the freedom it offered but rather stared off beyond the horizon, where the sky and sea became one. He stares off to the distance and mourns his inability to have properly bid farewell to the man he let die. To the grandson that had still died.

Because it hadn’t been enough. Because he wasn’t enough.)

But hopefully, he will be for the last one. His last remaining grandson.

_There will come a day, I’m sure._

_When I must heed its solemn call,_

_And walk side by side with my old friends,_

_Resting in its foamy waters._

Or he’d die trying.

_~~And yet that wasn’t enough.~~ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if Zoro or any of the characters for that matter, seem OOC. I'll try my best to balance canon material with any headcanons/tropes/plot I write so they don't seem completely out there or unfounded.
> 
> The song lyrics used in Garp's segment come from the One Piece Film Z's Ocean Guide, specifically the FUNimation translation. It's a song for Marines that died in battle and I thought it was pretty fitting considering that firstly, Ace died in battle, secondly, Garp wanted Ace to be a Marine, and thirdly, its a Marine song with the heavy theme of death and duty which is something Dadan had beaten up Garp for after Marineford (because he chose duty over the life of his family - Ace). As for why Garp would despise the tune, I personally would like to think that Garp holds some type of grudge against the very institution he serves. He literally went back on his principles of family and freedom to abide to his duty as a Marine, forcing him to play a role in his grandson's death. It's the irony of having to hum a requiem made by the same institution that killed his grandson, for said grandson.
> 
> In terms of events timeline, you can probably already guess that this chapter happens before the first, before Luffy becomes Pirate King. Its settled somewhere between post time-skip and pre-punk hazard.


End file.
